I’m sure all our American readers are counting down the days until they can crack a Miller Lite, light some sparklers and celebrate Independence Day. Me too, except, being a Canadian, I don’t have to wait quite as long to do so…. and I will probably be sipping on something Molson over something Miller.

Up here in Canada we do our celebrating on July 1st. It’s Canada Day – our nation’s big, fat birthday – and it rocks. And being the nice neighbor that I am, I’m inviting you to party with us. If the fact that fabulous CollegeCandy writers Alex from Lakehead and Ness from Sheridan are Canadian isn’t reason enough, then here are 5 more.

1. Calling in sick to work because you’re too hungover from partying it up on the Fourth of July is totally suspicious.  Call in on July 2nd (which happens to be a Friday!) and no one will bat an eyelash.  Celebrating Canada Day means you can party straight through the weekend!

2. For anyone close to the 49th parallel and under 21, Canada is the place to be.  With a drinking age of 19 in most provinces (18 in Alberta and Quebec!) you can enjoy a drink on a sunny patio.  If you can’t make it North for a drink, raise a Caesar in celebration of Canada – this popular (and tasty) drink was created by a bartender in my hometown of Calgary, Alberta!

3. An all-Canadian playlist is a great reason to have a Canada Day party.  With the extremely talented Arcade Fire, Metric, Stars, Tokyo Police Club, The Weakerthans, and Feist reigning from Canada, there is so much CRTC approved music to rock out to on July 1.  Or if you’re more into the Top 40 stuff, who better to dance to at the club than Drake, Nelly Furtado and J.Biebs.

4. Celebrate Canada day with some fine Canadian cuisine.  We have poutine, elephant ears, ginger beef, Montreal smoked meat, Montreal bagels, Nanaimo bars, Shreddies, Coffee Crisps, Timbits, and pretty much any ethnic cuisine you could possibly want available.  And made on a cart if you’re in Toronto.  Though we can’t seem to agree on a National dish, there are plenty of tasty treats we can all identify with.

5. Because we’re probably the friendliest neighbour you could possibly have.  And you know what good neighbours do?  They invite you over when they’re having a party and maybe, just maybe even hand you a nice, cold beer.

Yonge & Dundas Intersection in Toronto after Team Canada Win

This week’s Weekly Ten, Why Canada Deserves Silver, stirred up quite the controversy yesterday. Seriously, I didn’t see this much hate on CollegeCandy since one writer expressed her disdain for Taylor Swift. And rightfully so. Yes it was meant to be a joke, but we in Canada aren’t entirely laughing with you.  While we know for a fact CollegeCandy loves their Canadian readers, and even has a few Canadian writers (myself included), this post pissed a lot of people off.

But instead of get angry and insult the intelligence of the writer, editor or Americans in general, I decided to take the high road and just show why Canada deserves more than just a gold medal in Olympic hockey. So here is my condensed version (there are way too many reasons for one post!) of all the reasons Canada rocks that they forgot to teach you in high school.

Education – Education (university included) receives higher subsidies from the government in Canada, meaning it’s cheaper for us to attend post-secondary school.  Also, did you know that Toronto, Canada’s largely city (where I happen to attend school), has more people with university degrees than ANY other large city in the world? Yeah, take that and deep fry it!

Health Care – Okay, so maybe you’ve heard about this recently with Obama pushing for health care reform and all, but it’s true – we have universal health care in Canada, thanks to this pretty awesome guy named Tommy Douglas.  We also have a higher life expectancy rate and lower infant mortality rate than the United States.

Good Music – I agree with you, America: Avril Lavigne isn’t the greatest, but Canada has some other pretty fantastic musicians.  Arcade Fire, Metric, Stars, Feist, and The Weakerthans are just a few of my personal faves.

Tim Hortons – As I write this, I’m rolling up the rim to win on my Tim Horton’s coffee cup.

Inventions - I’m sure you’re enjoying some Canadian inventions as you read these post.  Have a light on? Used the telephone? Wearing jeans (with a zipper… not Pajama Jeans)? Played or watched hockey or basketball? Used your CrackBerry? Taken out the garbage? Eaten peanut butter? Yeah all these things were made possible by Canadians or on Canadian soil.

Multiculturalism – Canada is a mosaic of multiculturalism.  When people come to Canada we don’t expect them to give up their own identity – instead we embrace our differences.  We have two official languages in Canada – French and English – as well as  two national anthems. “Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits” is a snippet of the English translation of the French version. Yeah, we’re pretty epic.

Nationalism – We have a pretty inoffensive nationalism in Canada, except when it comes to hockey.  The street parties that ensued following Sid the Kid’s gold medal winning goal were truly Canadian – according to CTV 16.6 million people saw this goal, making it the most watched broadcast in Canadian history.

Space/Landscape - As Molson Canadian (makers of the fine Canadian beer) puts it, “we have more square feet of awesomness per person than any other nation on Earth.” We have the fourth lowest population density in the world and our country is full of diverse landscapes.  This was captured by the Group of Seven, a group of Canadian painters from the 1920s that developed a new school of truly Canadian art.

Definition of Marriage – Canada was the fourth country in the world, and first in the Americas, to legalize same-sex marriage.  Much like our belief in the mosaic of multiculturalism, this shows our commitment to equality.

[photo courtesy of Max Mertens]

As you fidget with the keys to your house you begin to think to yourself, this guy is too good to be true. There must be something wrong with him. Right? But what could it be? Bad in bed? Weird rash? Miniscule manhood?

Not that it matters – it’s the motion in the ocean, right? Well, now you can know exactly what you are dealing with…down there. Yes, ladies, someone has done the unthinkable: they took a condom and a ruler and put it all together into one handy dandy little (or, if you’re lucky, big) package.

Because you have always wondered if your man really was 8 inches, but never knew how to measure. (Note: breaking out a ruler while he’s asleep is never a good idea.) Because you never knew what 6 inches really looked like. Because you like to compare your conquests with those of your friends.

And because, well, it’s just sorta funny.

Not only do these condoms com with 14 inches of measuring fun (you never know when you are gonna meet Ron Jeremy), but they also come in lots of fun flavors. Papito Banana anyone?

Does this song sound familiar? If you are a fan of MIA (and who isn’t these days?) then it should–she samples this, my favorite song of all time, on her catchy single Paper Planes. Straight to Hell most deftly and beautifully represents everything that makes the Clash so singular and so influential, mixing Joe Strummer’s rusty voice with clever world music instrumentation, wit, and a political message.

Once Again: Girl Talk

The music of Girl Talk reminds me of cheerleading remixes on crack, and I mean that in the very best way. If you aren’t familiar with Girl Talk, it’s basically a DJ named Greg Gillis who mixes, to unexpected delight, any number of seemingly disparate songs together to create a sort of fun, danceable Frankenstein. My favorite part? Mixing The Whisper Song with the Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony. Brilliant.

Machine Gun: Portishead

After 11 years, Trip Hop pioneers Portishead have finally come out with a new album, Third. Portishead was one of my favorite bands growing up, so I was absolutely delighted when they released a new album after so long and even happier when the album turned out to be really, really good.

For me, the band was most successful when they were at their heaviest and darkest, and Third is full of that density. The first single off of the album is the relentless track Machine Gun, which juxtaposes lead singer Beth Gibbons’ rich lilt with persistent and ominous synthesizers. It’s a mixture of hard and soft sounds that is Portishead’s trademark and its done to beautiful, poignant effect in Machine Gun.

Non-Photo Blue: Pinback

Pinback’s third album, Summer in Abaddon, was recorded in a home studio but sounds so full and beautifully produced that you could never tell. The band is comprised of Armistead Burwell Smith IV (Zach) and Rob Crow, both of whom sing lead and their voices work so beautifully together that you often can’t tell them apart. Non-Photo Blue is one of the best songs off of Summer in Abaddon and is made up of Pinback’s trademark esoteric lyrics, which flow beautifully with the laid back, textured atmosphere of the music.

(7/4)/Shoreline-Broken Social Scene

Among Broken Social Scene’s revolving cast of members is Emily Haines from one of my favorite bands, Metric. She does the female vocals on this version of the track (there is at least one other version that I know of, with Feist singing the girl parts. That version also rocks). Broken Social Scene manages to stay on the good side of the thin line that separates earnestness and pretentiousness, especially with this particular track which has a lovely, understated quality and a satisfying climax.

College Candy-June 12

I “spring clean” at least once every season. Nothing thrills me more these days than getting rid of crap I don’t use. It’s refreshing, it’s helpful, and it’s totally impossible without a good playlist to get you up and motivated enough to start, continue, and FINISH the job.

I’ve got a pretty sweet playlist on my Itunes for these special cleaning days and I would highly recommend that you investigate getting some of these songs for your busy bee days, too.

“Blanket” by: Autolux –it’s: Indie/Rock

“Grow up & blow away” by: Metric –it’s: Rock

“Non Photo-Blue” by: Pinback –it’s: Indie/Alternative

“A perfect day Elise” by: PJ Harvey –it’s: Indie/Alternative

“3′s & 7′s” by: QOTSA –it’s: Rock/Alternative

“Straight Lines” by: Silverchair –it’s: Rock/Alternative

“Jumpers” by: Sleater-Kinney –it’s: Pop Punk/Garage

“Bohemian Like You” by: The Dandy Warhols –it’s: Indie/Rock

“Love is Paranoid” by: The Distillers –it’s: Punk/Grunge

“Sideways in Reverse” by: Mark Lanegan –it’s: Rock

Throw on some of these songs and then try to tell me you weren’t motivated to clean!